Battle of Telemantros
Battle of Telemantros is a major battle in the First Lampardian War, and one of the most remarkable victories that the Eleutheroi won against the Evil Baby Corporation. It was here that Sematia Aiakida shrugged off the pariah status, and this battle was a big contributor to the outcome of the Battle of Oxys. Prelude Main Article: Operation Action Ranger The Operation Action Ranger proved to be a great success for the EBC, as the EBC was able to strike the weak point that Areus had been worried about. The subsequent defeat of the TIA's central force after the ambush left much of the TIA forces fragmented, and sentiments in favor of recalling troops back to the respective poleis started to grow. Distraught as Areus was, he was to be faced with another bad news provided to him by a ninja: the EBC wished to take the polis of Telemantros, which would subsequently result in a two-pronged attack on Phovellis, effectively crushing one of TIA's largest power base. Telemantros was fortified well, but the problem was that the enemy was reported to build a huge fleet of airships to attack the polis from the air, which meant its fortification and terrain advantages would be rendered null. Deeply troubled by the news, Areus was interruped by reports of a large flying ship from the sky, and thus started his introduction to a Sentinel outcast, Sematia Aiakida. The Sentinel personnel immediately tried to hoot Sematia away, but Areus was interested in what Sematia had to offer, so he shrugged off the Sentinels' protests. Sematia offered to take the battle to the air, to intercept the EBC in the air, requesting a crew to protect her ship and 12 remaining Polemarchos-class aerial cruisers. The council shouted words of rejection, saying that those cruisers are needed to defend against the eventual attack on Phovellis. Areus on the other hand was quite marveled by the novelty of the idea to have an aerial ship battle, and thought Sematia was on to something: Telemantros would be vulnerable if the troops were allowed to land onto the mesa or the city itself, and if Sematia is able to deter the ships and force the airships to land the troops unto the foot of the mesa, the EBC would be placed in a difficult situation. So, Areus agreed to provide Sematia the crew and the fleet, and so became the forces that took part in the Battle of Telemantros. With the marvelous victory at the Second Battle of Argyria, EBC morale was higher than ever. Given the crippled status of the TIA, Militius believed that it was the time to take Phovellis: however, a direct assault on Phovellis would prove to be bloody as the battles near poleis have proved themselves to be, thus he believed that to take a polis, attack must come from multiple direction as to either split the defensive forces or to take them by surprise. However, Phovellis is covered on one side by the seas, and Phovellis itself is built close to the river, meaning it was nearly impossible to attack from multiple direction by land. He then notices the polis of Telemantros on the map, and instantly thought, "oh yeah! We should get the bad bunnies in that city and from there attack with the ships!" And thus he prepared his aerial fleet in a novel attempt not seen ever before in Infantid history. Battle Preparations While Areus believed that Sematia would position the fleet close to the polis ot Telemantros itself as to force the EBC to prematurely land the troops, Sematia had a different plane of thought: the weather had been more turbulent at the seas than ever before: Sematia observed that wind first initially starts blowing in the direction of Telemantros from the southeast, then reverses later on. If this change in wind proves to be strong and sudden enough, this could cause a condition troublesome for the rickety airships that the Evil Baby Corporation employs. As such, Sematia chooses to fight at the shore: Sematia's hopes for wind conditions was not unfounded, as the winds in the morning proved to be unusually strong, especially for a calm planet that is Polysiton. This was not a purely wishful hope: Sematia took the liberty of recording the meteorological condition of Polysiton, and it turned out that Polysiton had grown increasingly windy, even if it was just for the past few months of the exile before Sematia's descent towards Polysiton. First Phase The contacts at the Telemantros' observatory reported to Sematia that EBC's forces have started to move towards Trinakrie: reports claim hundreds of airships followed by looted jet planes. Thus Sematia positions the fleet towards the shore. However, the captains of the other ships did not confide in Sematia's abilities, so Sematia led the flagship, Mikroteros Aiakides, forwards while the other ships stayed behind, just beyond the foot of the plateau. Sematia was faced directly by the vanguard of the EBC forces led by Cornelius, who was taken by surprise given the EBC assumption that the Lagikoi wouldn't provide all but token resistance on the way towards Telemantros. The jet planes were thus not equipped for aerial combat (equipped with primarily bombs), and subsequently shot down quickly by first of Sematia's novelty weapons, the oistoi, which is described as an accelerated mass weapon shaped like an arrow. Likewise, the EBC airships were never designed with aerial combat in mind, meaning the EBC could do only so much as shooting their pistols at range, which proved ineffective against the heavily armored hull of Sematia's flagship. Sematia on the other hand had equivalent of cannons in the flagship's repertoire of arms, and thus was able to total the airships at will. However, the wind was favorable to the EBC, and eventually the airships were able to close in on the Mikroteros Aiakides to try boarding. Nonetheless, Sematia held out, and the valor and ability that the new commander had displayed started to have effect on the remaining captains, causing Maion and his ship to move onward to join the fight. Second Phase The battle was not to end with just Maion, however. When Militius observed that the airships were able to board the Eleutheroi crafts, Militius sent more crafts onward, believing that sheer numbers would eventually tire the opposition out, leaving the ships to be captured. And so, more airships were sent, many were damaged or totaled, but some managed to reach Maion's ship, resulting in a melee between the two sides. Seeing that the airships' crew were able to cause confusion among Maion's crew encouraged Militius to keep advancing his forces. However, Militius found that the wind was changing, and as the winds shifted to the west, so did the benefit that they received in moving towards the Eleutheroi airships. Worse, the change in the wind was very sudden, resulting in minor twisters that proved dangerous to the EBC airships. As the airships went out of control, many crashed with one another, making the dense cluster easy target for Sematia, who was joined by Xenophon, whose ship helped bail out Maion. The 3 ships continued to lash out at the enemy airships, continuing to deal damage unto the invaders. When the twisters subsided, most of the airships' captain refused to advance, but the repeated orders from Militius eventually got them forward. To their dismay, Sematia was joined by the remaining 10 Polemarchos cruisers, and their advance managed to drive the EBC back. Aftermath This victory, despite the key advantages that Sematia had over EBC, seriously dampened the EBC troop's morale. Not only did Militius's novel plans failed, EBC spent prodigious amount of supply in the crafting of the airships, and this massive defeat led to withdrawal so fast that they neglected to take the supplies prepared for the invasion of Telemantros and Phovellis, which was later reclaimed by Sematia and the TIA. The Eleutheroi victory in Battle of Telemantros reversed all strategic gains that the Evil Baby Corporation made in the Second Battle of Argyria. The morale shock that the Lagikoi poleis suffered was undone. In addition, Sematia's victory placed great confidence in the Eleutheroi troops as a whole, and Telemantros, which was previously not a major contributor to the war effort, became more active in participation in TIA. Telemantros's more eager cooperation meant more fresh troops and vehicles when vehicles were in short supply within TIA's central army. Not only that, the sentiment for individual polis defense quickly dissipated, and the separatist poleis's armies rejoined with the TIA's main force, allowing for swift reclamation of lands lost at the aftermath of the Second Battle of Argyria as the EBC withdrew to shorten the supply lines that they no longer could maintain. Furthermore, Sematia's readmission to the Eleutheroi granted the Posterity access to Euxeine's industrial capacities, a most welcome news since the surprise attack at the antebellum destroyed much of Posterity's industrial capabilities. The supremacy of Sematia's ship was also demonstrated on the battle. While the EBC jet planes were primarily equipped with bombs, some still had autocannons, which did only nominal damage to Mikroteros Aiakides. This also meant that the EBC feared the airship: later attempts to take it down with flak also failed, and the Battle of Oxys also sealed the deal as even heavy flak barrage failed to repel the ship. As a result, the ship was a sight of terror for the Infantids, in a fashion similar to Yi Sun-Shin towards Japanese navy in the Imjin Invasion, and to a lesser degree, Spartacus in his successful years towards the Romaioi. Category:Conflicts